est. 2007

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Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur is Dead

On behalf of the blogmaster and BU household our heartfelt sympathy is extended to the family and friends of the late former prime minister Owen Seymour Arthur. Barbados Government Information Service 16 m · Former Prime Minister of Barbados, The Right Honourable Owen Arthur, passed away earlier today at 12.26 a.m. Starting today, Monday, July…

On behalf of the blogmaster and BU household our heartfelt sympathy is extended to the family and friends of the late former prime minister Owen Seymour Arthur.

Barbados Government Information Service
16 m
Former Prime Minister of Barbados, The Right Honourable Owen Arthur, passed away earlier today at 12.26 a.m.
Starting today, Monday, July 27, due to the passing of the former Prime Minister, there will be a period of national mourning for three days. In addition, all flags will be flown at half mast.
Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations, Colin Jordan, will be the coordinating Minister for the funeral arrangements.
The Government of Barbados extends sincerest condolences to his wife, Julie, his daughters, Leah and Sabrina and his extended family.
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182 responses to “Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur is Dead”

  1. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    And if the family members had time to read what I posted on BU I would question their priorities.

    DOUBLE STEUPSE!

    Damn Nation News full of Owen shit again this morning. I will salvage some of the money I paid for it by putting the black and white pages in my compost heap.

  2. Raw Bake Avatar
    Raw Bake

    Donna?
    Donna who?
    Who the fcuk is Donna, any why should anyone, other than her “great” son, give a fcuk about what she thinks?

  3. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Just for Raw Bake

  4. TheOgazerts Avatar
    TheOgazerts

    Tough to have a different opinion?
    Guess we should all put on a yellow shirt, get in line and start marching.

  5. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Raw Bake,

    I see you are first out of the gate.

    No claims to any national fame. I prefer my little corner. Just a tax paying citizen exercising my right to free speech.

    Don’t know why anyone should care what I think. And actually my son’s opinion IS what matters most to me.

    BUT… obviously my opinion does matter to you or you would not be here cussing me for expressing it.

    I am happy you won’t be here to see me adding the pictures to the compost heap. 😊

  6. Raw Bake Avatar
    Raw Bake

    Cuss you Donna?
    Where did I ever do that?
    Surely you of all people on this blog know the difference between cussing someone and just cussing. This is cussing someone; Theo, are you a cnut? Fcuk you.

    No Donna, I did not curse you, I just attempted to put certain things in context.
    Your opinion on OSA bothers me not. Your continued pissing on a post meant for those wishing to pay respects and offer condolences is in poor taste, imho. Just saying.

    Be well. 😉

  7. Raw Bake Avatar
    Raw Bake

    Theo, thanks for the song. Never heard it before. When I was a boy at school this would have been my anthem.

  8. Raw Bake Avatar
    Raw Bake

    Yellow shirt?
    Theo, you obviously don’t know Raw Bake.

  9. Robert Avatar
    Robert

    Guess we should all put on a yellow shirt, get in line and start marching. {Quote}

    Or get in line and start singing bout something yelluh.

  10. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Raw Bake,

    I believe these damn lies we tell are a millstone around the neck of our country.

    Why should our leaders try to do any better if we are prepared to lionize them for failure and mediocrity?

    Unlike you people I am not in love with being in love. You guys just seem to need to create heroes whether they are heroes or not.

    Your attempts to shame me into marching to the beat of the conventional drum will fail.

    Somebody has to challenge the autoresponse!

    IT’S a dirty job but somebody’s got to do it! I have been a lifelong volunteer.

    😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

    P.S. Years ago my mother quoted the Bible at me.

    “HONOUR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER blah blah blah…”

    I too quoted the Bible, “Parents, provoke not your children to wrath.”

    “RUDE!” That’s what all the people in Barbados would have screamed, as she did.

    My father shielded me and rushed me out of the house.

    He KNEW that she had provoked me. He was logical and could always be reasoned with.

    He also said that I was logical too and warned that it would cause me much trouble with people.

    I NEVER FORGOT THAT. IT PREPARED ME FOR THE IDIOTIC ATTACKS.

    THE “GREAT ” OWEN ARTHUR tried to remove my father from a position and failed. The Chairman he sent to do the dirty work chose to resign instead and told my father why.

    When my father tried to retire, the minister in Owen’s cabinet kept him hanging on for a year, refusing to hold interviews for a replacement.

    Unfortunately, none of the restructuring documents my father presented on request were ever implemented because Owen refused to take the political hit. There was a way to manage it that a little vision would have facilitated.

    And by his inaction Owen allowed a state run entity with tremendous potential to serve Barbados’ interests in a crucial sector to languish nearly in the doldrums.

    I know a lot more about both BLP and DLP admnistrations than I ever let on.

  11. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Something funny just popped into my head.

    My favourite mystery writer, Agatha Christie, appealed to me mostly for the characters she wrote into her stories. In one book titled “After the Funeral” there was a character by the name of Cora. This Cora had an inconvenient habit of blurting out uncomfortable statements at the most inappropriate of times.

    What made them uncomfortable was that everybody deep down inside, knew they were true.

    Oh dear, dear me! I never thought of that before.

    CHRISTIE FOREVER!

  12. GP Avatar
    GP

    INFERIOR SUPERIORS HAVE BEEN DESTROYING , AND CONTINUE TO DESTROY BARBADOS

    ONCE A SENIOR MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH CALLED RONALD KNIGHT (AKA GRAVY) TOLD ME THAT DECISIONS WERE MADE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH ON THE BASIS OF WHO SHOUTED THE LOUDEST. AT THE TIME BRANDFORD TAITT WAS THE MINISTER

  13. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Donna August 17, 2020 10:01 AM “When my father tried to retire, the minister in Owen’s cabinet kept him hanging on for a year, refusing to hold interviews for a replacement.”

    Your father should have just handed in his papers and left. I don’t understand why he would let a Minister bully him? Mass day dun d’ed ent it?

    My last employer’s representative tried to use that trick on me. So one Friday evening I handed in my resignation letter, took up my handbag and left. i figured that they know where I live and if they had anything for me [including if they wanted to cut off my head] they knew where to find me. I know that i had been paying into NIS for many decades so I figured since I could grow much of my own food and only need about a$620 per month for a few groceries and utilities, nobody had the power to make me hold on when I was sick and tired of them and fed up too.

    So I was outta there.

    Absolutely no regrets.

  14. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Cuhdear Bajan,

    You misunderstand me. The point was that Owen Arthur tried to dismiss a man based on political affiliation who, if would have worked well for him regardless of HIS own political affiliation. There were BLP people who could have told him that. I am certain that the chairman he sent to do the deed could have told him that. The next chairman tried his best to axe him and failed. By the the time my father wished to retire the minister no longer wanted him to leave. Finally my father told him that if he would be gone by the following Monday whether or not he sent a replacement.

    One was then sent.

    It was not a case of the minister bullying my father. They were on very good terms as my father is with many on both sides of the fence.

    One BLP minister ran into my father’s house one Sunday, hiding from constituents who wanted their bills paid. He helped many but could not help all. He just wanted some peace that Sunday.

    “They won’t think to look for me here!” he said.

    These people are not monsters. Owen was not a monster. Mia is not a monster. Freundel Stuart is not a monster. They are politicians and flawed human beings.

    They just need us to stand up, speak truth to power and hold them accountable because “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

    Instead we make angels and demons out of them.

    Count me out!

  15. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Correction – who would have worked well

  16. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    And before you think I am hero worshipping my father let me tell you that I am well aware of his flaws.

    WOMEN!

    MY mother took out her frustration on me.

  17. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Time for another pin prick.

    I recall that Owen Arthur was eventually voted out because the people perceived he had become too “arrogant”.

    So much for retaining the “common touch”. Didn’t quite last the fourteen years, did it?

    Anybody else remember that?

    Of course, not many people would have done any better. That is why places like the USA limit presidents to eight years.

    Imagine “ruling the world” for more than eight years! The most benign leader could become an autocrat!

    Of course, some come in that way as we see at present.

    But…. they cannot do it without the complicity of the people.

    Their failings are our failings.

    The people long for a king!

    I am waxing Biblical today, it seems.

  18. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Donna August 17, 2020 12:42 PM “And before you think I am hero worshipping my father let me tell you that I am well aware of his flaws. WOMEN! MY mother took out her frustration on me.”

    I understand now what you are saying about your father’s job.

    But I am not being disrespectful when I assert that “WOMEN” were not your father’s problem.

    I am big on asserting that we ALL have to own our sexual desires and our sexual actions. Unless a person is a minor or unless a person is raped, sexual actions are NEVER the other party’s responsibility.

    We all have bits of [sometimes unruly] tissue a few inches below the navel. And those bits of tissue are ALWAYS [except for minors and rape] those bits of tissue are ALWAYS, ALWAYS our responsibility.

    So it is not the men.

    It is not the women.

    It is US.

    So your dad’s sexual doings were/are entirely HIS desires, HIS doings, HIS responsibility, HIS actions.

  19. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    I don’t believe in the Adam and Eve thingy that she and the “friendly” serpent made him do it, as though he was somehow victimized.

  20. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Cuhdear Bajan,

    That is why I called it HIS flaw.

  21. cherfleur Avatar
    cherfleur

    @ Robert As far as I could remember, Arthur said land should reach its highest economic value. 🙂
    Words and deeds differ. For an economist, he embarrassed me with his actions. As you correctly asked, “Where in that does it say to sell?” Leases bring the greatest value to land or property. Its why the RE Industry is so lucrative. It provides income into perpetuity

    OSA also sold off much of the BNB’s shares.

    What I see is our Politicians pandering to the planter class aks Private Partnership. After all, its where they get funding for their campaigns and employment for the workers and bailouts when needed.
    Politicians are not looking for creative ways to govern for the benefit of the masses.
    I was very disappointed with his tenure.

  22. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Who sold off ICB?

  23. cherfleur Avatar
    cherfleur

    @ Robert Lucas * I found him wanting in his lack of foresight in forging a pathway in changing the developmental map of Barbados. Remember, he as a trained economist talked about selling land to achieve the greatest financial return. He even went so far as to say that the only survival path forward for Barbados was the selling of land. I came to the conclusion that he had to be bereft of ideas to arrive at such a conclusion. You have a leader with a paucity of ideas ( he apparently was not very keen on the sciences: he seemed to have the impression that scientist thought of themselves as Gods- …*

    Very tragic. No one-time cash receipt can equal multiple receipts. If anyone asked me to sell a rotten apple to them I’d ask ‘what would you do with it”. It is time we folks wake up. Other folks buy and recover that cost over time and pass on to generations.
    OSA’s position on sciences and Scientists is that of Joseph and his coat; why his brothers sold him.
    It is a pity. West Indian Politicians do not make use of the most varied of skill sets available to them. If you are not of their elk or party or if you are going to get many accolades and outshine them, they block you.

    Hello Mr Lucas missy from BIDC. 🙂

  24. GP Avatar
    GP

    When the land was being sold to expatriates at exorbitant prices, this caused a spike in the value of land in Barbados generally, and put the price of a piece of land out of the reach of a large percentage of the populace. Surely, an economist ought to have seen that this phenomenon would result.

  25. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Sssshhh! This is a blog for praising Owen. He was an awesome prime minister. They aĺl are when they are dead. That is the convention. All dead prime ministers are awesome.

    We the big people have not outgrown our childish yearning for heroes and fairy tales.

  26. GP Avatar
    GP

    DURING THE TIME WHEN THE EXPENSIVE FAILED EDUTECH WAS IN VOGUE I COULD NOT GET TO SEE THE MINISTER OF HEALTH- NOW PM.
    SO I WENT TO SEE FOOLBERT FOOL WHO HAD TAUGHT PRIMARY SCHOOL FOR 25 YEARS.

    AT THE TIME I HAD IMPORTED A VERY INEXPENSIVE TOOL TO FACILITATE THE TEACHING OF BASIC ARITHMETIC. I HAD HOPED THAT GOVERNMENT COULD BUY ABOUT 100- I.E AT LEAST 1 FOR EACH PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL

    WHEN I JUST HANDED IT TO PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS WHO CAME TO SEE ME, THEY WERE ALL ABLE TO IMMEDIATELY SEE THE BENEFITS THEREOF, BUT CINTY COULD NOT SEE WHAT HER PEERS SAW. SHE SAID SHE WOULD NOT WANT TO BE SEEN AS HELPING ONE OF HER CONSTITUENTS.

  27. GP Avatar
    GP

    should be minister of education

  28. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @GP August 17, 2020 8:57 PM “AT THE TIME I HAD IMPORTED A VERY INEXPENSIVE TOOL TO FACILITATE THE TEACHING OF BASIC ARITHMETIC.”

    Abacus?

    Ball frame?

    100 balls of different colors arranged in lines of ten?

  29. GP Avatar
    GP

    none of the above
    you seem to think that I am a jackass or something
    every time I post you seek to contradict or talk some kind of nonsense

  30. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Not true, GP. A couple of weeks ago she thanked you for your intervention in the Ghanaian nurses affair.

    As I’ve told you before, you are overly sensitive to the BU negatives.

    Cuhdear Bajan, like myself, would agree with a poster who previously called her a whore when the current post merits agreement.

    It is all about the current post.

  31. Robert Avatar
    Robert

    When the land was being sold to expatriates at exorbitant prices {Quote}

    @ GP

    It was Owen Arthur that sell the land to expatriates?

  32. GP Avatar
    GP

    Did I say that Owen Arthur sold land?
    I was very accurate in what I said-as usual.
    Did he oversee the selling of shares in the BNB?
    WAS THAT A SMART THING TO DO?

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